Einhorn explained his decision to get out while he could with a
pretty brutal burn of the company, comparing it to Alex
Rodriguez, the troubled Yankees star:

Microsoft (long): In 2006 we compared Microsoft to A-Rod, which
was a compliment at the time. In 2013, the comparison is still
apt, but it is no longer a compliment. Windows 8 appears to be a
flop, and a decade of mismanagement has put Microsoft at risk of
becoming a shrinking company. We were pleased when an activist
gave the stock a boost, giving us the opportunity to exit with an
annualized high single-digit return that slightly outpaced the
market during our lengthy holding period.

Apple (AAPL) completed its assessment of its capital management
policy and decided to return $100 billion to shareholders over
three years in dividends and share repurchases. At quarter end,
AAPL’s market capitalization was $372 billion, implying a 9%
annual return of capital to shareholders. Sentiment towards the
stock is incredibly bearish. Early in the quarter, the concern
was that AAPL was losing market share to Samsung. When Samsung’s
latest Galaxy phone failed to impress, rather than re-assess
AAPL’s better competitive position, the consensus story shifted
to concerns about market saturation of high end phones.
Sometimes, you just can’t win. AAPL was our largest loser in the
quarter falling from $442.66 to $396.53 per share. Unless
operating results are about to head off a cliff, we expect the
shares to stage a recovery.